This invention relates to timepieces which display both Biblical and Roman time and, in particular, to a timepiece wherein the time of day reference tracks are oriented on the dial so as to enable the observer to concurrently view both times with the assistance of a single pair of sweep hands.
The system of time keeping established in the Bible differs from the secular or Roman time keeping system in use today. The basis for the Biblical system calls for the start of each evening to begin a new day. It is the evening hour of six that signifies the start of the first portion of each day. The evening half of the day is stated in the Bible to be divided into four distinct watches which are referred to by their numerical order of occurrence. As a result, the transition from second to third watch coincides with the conventional 12 o'clock midnight hour. The end of the fourth watch signifies the midpoint of the Biblical day and coincides with the six o'clock morning hour of Roman time.
The ability of one living in the secular world to quickly and accurately determine both the present Biblical and present Roman times is important in the conduct of many peoples lives. A Biblical timepiece having the capability of displaying both times is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,322, granted Dec. 21, 1971 and entitled Biblical Timepiece. The timepiece disclosed therein utilizes the conventional 12 hour and 60 minute time of day reference tracks along with the associated sweep hands in combination with four adjacent reference tracks. The additional tracks display the Biblical time, day of the week and date. To accomplish the display of both Biblical and Roman time, a total of six hands are employed in this timepiece with each of these hands being rotated about a common central axis. While the information displayed is complete and accurate as to Biblical and Roman times, the number of reference tracks that use a sweep hand with each track requires that careful attention be paid by the viewer when reading the timepiece. A viewer merely glancing at the timepiece rather than taking the time to carefully analyze the position of each hand and its relationship to a single reference track was likely to misread the time if he failed to exercise sufficient care.
The Biblical timepiece described in my patent noted above utilized a conventional 12 hour reference track thereby requiring a number of separate hands for the Biblical and Roman times. In addition, the time scale for both the Biblical and Roman reference tracks swept by the hands differed in that the divisions for equal periods of elapsed time subtended different angles. As a result, the reference tracks were not capable of angular alignment thereby increasing the difficulty in accurately viewing the timepiece.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a timepiece which facilitates the reading of both Biblical and Roman time by the use of a common pair of sweep hands. Also, the invention contains concentric reference tracks calibrated in both time systems and oriented to enable the times in one system to be readily converted into the other system without changing the viewing reference point on the timepiece. Furthermore, this timepiece enables the calibrated reference tracks to be oriented so that the start of each Biblical day is in alignment with the corresponding hour of Roman time.
The unique construction and calibration of this timepiece reduces the number of sweep hands to two in contrast to the multiplicity of hands heretofore used to display both Biblical and Roman time in a single timepiece.